Paleontologists have discovered an iguanodont dinosaur. article about it published On PLOS One.
Fossilized bones were found in the Cedar Mountain Formation in the US state of Utah. The species was named Iani smithi – in honor of the ancient Roman god Janus and paleontologist Joshua Aaron Smith. It lived in the mid-Cretaceous, about 99 million years ago. Paleontologists were able to examine most of the skull, as well as parts of the spine and limbs. Iani smithi It was a medium-sized dinosaur about three meters long. It lacks horns, plates, spines or other distinctive features, but skeletal details identify the species as a rhabdodontomorph, a little-known group of herbivorous dinosaurs that was isolated only in 2016.
In the bigger picture of dinosaur evolution, rhabdodontomorphs were related to other bipedal herbivores such as the iguanodont. In ecological role, they resembled the antelopes or deer of their time and filled the niche of intermediate herbivores in their communities.
The most striking feature Iani smithi They have powerful jaws with teeth designed to chew hard plant material.
ancient biologists to solvethis causes ticks to “throw” eggs like a cuckoo.